Only entirely digital submissions of manuscripts in English language are considered for publication. Manuscripts should deal with some group of Arthropoda s.l. (including Onychophora and Tardigrada).

The scope of the journal covers integrative taxonomy, morphology/anatomy, phylogeny (molecular or morphology-based), bio- and phylogeography, and palaeontology. Purely descriptive work, faunistic work, and (usually) work with a strong regional focus are outside the scope. Descriptions of new taxa are welcome, but must be embedded in a novel wider context (e.g. a phylogenetic, evolutionary, or biogeographical framework). As the printing space is limited, the editors must be selective in the consideration of manuscripts.

When preparing a manuscript for submission, authors should carefully follow the “Detailed Instructions” given below (for further details of style, a recent issue of Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny, vol. 75 or later, can be consulted). The text must be concise and linguistically correct. Manuscripts not conforming with the instructions or requiring extensive linguistic improvement cannot be considered.

For submission the manuscript package must be structured into the following files (to the extent the manuscript contains the respective elements):

- Text file (in Word): including head of manuscript, abstract, keywords, the entire text body, the references, and if applicable appendices intended to be printed, authors’ contributions, the list of electronic supplement files (with their complete legends), and the list of zoobank registrations. No tables or illustrations shall be included in this file!

- Legend file (in Word): including all legends of (1) figures and (2) tables that belong to the part of the manuscript intended for print (i.e., not the legends of the electronic supplement files).

- Table file(s) (in Word): each table of the manuscript should be submitted as a separate original Word file (i.e., do not import tables as graphic elements into the Word file!).

- Figure file(s) (in PDF format): assemble all figures in one PDF file less than 10 MB in size (or in two such files in case of many figures), all in the arrangement (regarding the mounting to plates) and size as intended for printing (type area 165 mm × 250 mm). Legends can be included or not; if not, provide provisional numbering of the figures (unless this is evident from the labeling). [It is anticipated that the authors have high-resolution original figures; these will be required only at the layouting stage.]

- Electronic Supplement file(s): The authors are free in the use of file types, in the design, and in the assembling of elements in a file, but file size should be less than 10 MB. Word, Excel, and PDF files are generally preferred. On the other hand, file types should be appropriate for the data contained and their intended use (such as .nex for morphological and .fasta for molecular character matrices), and they should not be too exotic. The legends of the supplementary figures and tables should be associated with the figures and tables (in addition to their proper placement in the text file, see above).

- In addition, please download the authors agreement form “ASP-2018-AuthorsAgreementForm”, fill in your specifications (date, title of manuscript, full name of corresponding author, full names of all other authors), print it, sign it at the end, scan it, and submit it as a single PDF file. It is anticipated that the signature is done on behalf of all authors ot the manuscript in question. By submission of this form, authors give permission to the publisher to publish their contribution, and they accept the copyright note of the journal.

Submission of a manuscript to Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny implies that the same work has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and it is anticipated that the authors accept and follow the rules and procedures given below. It is the responsibility of the authors alone that no copyright issues are harmed by the publication of their article in Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny.

After submission, the editor-in-chief evaluates whether the manuscript can be considered for publication in Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny, brings the parts of the manuscript into appropriate, standardised format, and may also insert corrections and suggest improvements to the authors. The resulting files have the status of new mastercopies that are the basis for the further development of the manuscript. Then the manuscript is forwarded to an associate editor, who evaluates the overall quality of the manuscript and, if quality is acceptable, sends it to two referees who can cover pertinent subject-specific issues. The referees are kept anonymous (unless they de-anonymise themselves). Based on the referees’ reports and their own evaluation, the associate editor and the editor-in-chief decide whether a manuscript can be accepted and to what extent revision is required. In case of major revision, revised manuscripts might be sent to the referees again.

For final submission, the text-, legend-, table-, figure-, and supplement-files must be submitted with the same structuring as specified above for first submission. Only at the very end, when requested by the editor-in-chief, the high-resolution original files of the figures are needed, preferably delivered in .cdr, .ai, .psd, or .eps format (.tif is less useful).

It is the responsibility of the authors that with final submission the manuscript includes (1) all GenBank accession numbers for DNA sequences used in the manuscript as well as (2) all Zoobank registrations for taxa newly described and for the article in question.

Authors are welcome to additionally submit a colour photo that could be used for the cover page of the issue including their manuscript. The photo should show an arthropod (living animal in its habitat) from the taxon the authors’ manuscript deals with; it should be of high resolution and suitable for landscape (transverse) format.

Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author as a PDF file (usually with reduced resolution). The authors should indicate final changes in the PDF file, and return the annotated file to the editor-in-chief within a few days; if this is not possible, publication of a manuscript might be delayed to the next issue. Only minor changes can be made at this stage, unless a requirement for major changes results from the layouting process.

There are no page charges (including colour plates). No royalties will be paid to authors (including a selected cover photo). Authors will receive a PDF file of their published article free of charge and are welcome to further distribute it for non-commercial purposes and to post it on their personal and institutional websites. The PDF files of articles as well as associated supplementary files can also be freely viewed and downloaded at www.arthropod-systematics.de (open access). Any commercial use of the published articles is excluded. Reprints on paper are not offered.